Learning through play

We are now part of a global world where it is easy to keep contact with other countries. Therefore there are no barriers between children of the world.

With this in mind, three schools from Wewelsfleth, Germany, Shanklin, Isle of Wight, and the Ave Maria Primary School in Xghajra, gave birth to a Comenius project entitled "Working together without frontiers". The activity is being funded by the EUPU Socrates Programme.

A Web page has been uploaded and a magazine entitled Little Gems was launched on the Internet as part of the programme for the first year of the project. A play is now in the offing for next year.

The matter was discussed by Gemma Galea Scannura, head of the Xghajra school, and partner representatives when they met in July to evaluate the progress and make plans for specific activities for the next stage of the project. In fact, following considerations of the pupils' proposals, it was agreed that schools would develop a three-act play in which each school will have to produce an act. The play will be adapted on The Gruffalo. Drama and IT teachers will be involved to help the school co-ordinate with the other schools, and to give prominence to Maltese background and develop characters proposed by the pupils.

During her visit to Shanklin, Mrs Galea Scannura participated in meetings with the school staff and partner representatives to assess the work done and reflect upon extending pupil involvement, and consider how related themes could be integrated within their school curriculum.

Mr Struve, a German local authority inspector, also participated in the meetings and noted the attention being given to enable pupils to work together and to take decisions and how to "walk through" the historical and social experience of their countries and other countries and how to develop team work and co-ordinate their talents. Emphasis was placed on school organisation and contact with other neighbouring schools. For this reason, representatives of the partner schools not only visited the Shanklin CE Primary School, but also Furze Hill Pre-School and Nursery, Sandown CE Middle School and the High School. This provided first-hand experience of school environmental organisation and school management, community relations and pupil monitoring.

It was, in fact, another opportunity for the schools to disseminate their experience of co-operating together on such projects which certainly help to ensure active pupil participation in learning situations where the European dimension given to the topics helps to cut across borders and do away with prejudice.